Reality Check: Is China burdening Africa with debt?

Image caption
President Xi and African leaders at the FOCAC summit in Beijing, September 2018

Africa is facing a looming debt crisis, say leading development economists.

“Almost 40% of sub-Saharan African countries are in danger of slipping into a major debt crisis” according to the Overseas Development Institute, ahead of a major conference on debt being held in London this week.

And the relationship between African nations and China is often seen as a significant part of the problem.

Its critics say that major infrastructure projects carried out by Chinese companies in Africa are too…